The pups were allowed outside now, but Ran had been kept inside all this time. She had finally mastered using her three good legs to sort-of-walk now; after weeks of trying to stand on her deformed left front leg she'd adapted and was now no longer putting pressure on it. That eleviated some of the pain she experienced from it, and she seemed less noisy now; partially because she had learned to take the pain off the leg, and part because she had grown used to the remaining pain and realised instinctively from the reactions of her parents that she shouldn't be so loud.

So far her father had kept her inside, but today Ran found herself the only one awake in the den near sundown while she practised how to walk. Her mother was asleep too and, knowing that any of her siblings could wake up at any moment now, Ran wasted no time to take a peek outside of the den. To her relief her father wasn't there to growl her back this time and she took a few shaky steps out of the den while her left front leg stuck out forward, though the stump at the end with the single toe was held folded back out of fear of falling on it and hurting it.

The light outside wasn't that blinding, considering the sunset was beginning to settle in, and with wonder Ran looked around her, taking in the foresty area around her with an open mouth and a wiggling tail of excitement.

No need to forward-date this <3 Also @Hydra feel free to jump in anytime! I couldn't resist stealing this thread

She couldn't resist the pull of her newest siblings, her curiousity about them leading her to the den almost everyday. Of course, she made sure not to harass her mother and the young puppies, knowing it was wiser to give them space. No doubt Charon would be keeping a close eye on the surrounding area around the den as well, chasing off all who overstayed their welcome — including his own daughters.

Still, Lyra hadn't visited in a few days and wanted to see how her fellow sisters and single brother were doing. She had only really gotten a good glimpse of Vela so far and was curious of what the others looked like.

With light, prancing steps, the girl made her way to where the puppies and Amekaze slept, though already noticed something was off with the picture. She immediately noticed a single, tiny dark figure standing before the den and closed the distance between them with hurried strides. She hadn't seen this one before. It was smaller than the others, at least, smaller than Vela. "Oh, what are you doing out here?" she said softly, drawing in close and going to nudge the wayward pup back into the safety of the den.

Finally she was free! Ran stared outside with abundant excitement, ready to treat into the world. There was no one holding her back this time, no father to push her back into the back of the den. With a tail-wiggle of excitement she got ready to hop further out when there was a dark figure coming towards her. Her intonation sounded soft and sweet, and Ran's tail wagged at first as she reached her nose out towards her sister.

But soon she was disappointed as she was nudged further into the den. "Nooooo!" she cried out, the only 'word' she knew, before continuing in puppyspeak, "Nonononono oog da isn!" Ran batted a paw at her older sister to demonstrate her point — she didn't want to go inside!

As she nosed the little pup back inside, she glimpsed its forepaw — or rather, it's nub of a forepaw. Her stomach instantly twisted and she felt sick at the sight; a single, horrifying toe attached to the end of a stubby limb. She quickly glanced away, taking a pace back from the pup who was crying at her. She dismissed its complaints of being ushered back into the den. Surely Charon knew of this? The little thing was her sibling, of course, and she loved it but...what had caused such a disfigurement?

Lyra tried not to look (much less touch) it as she rounded the tiny thing back into the den, cooing as she did so so it didn't try to attack her. Each time Ran went to jump at her, the girl jerked back, face twisting in disgust as if afraid that single toe would contaminate her. Eventually, she managed to guide her younger sibling back into den enough so Amekaze could reach out and pull her in to join her litter mates. And with that, Lyra left without a single glance back, fleeing to find a place she could safely go and throw up.